The Stage Post

On Saturday 6th June 2009, Twilight Shadows Paranormal/Phoenix of Wessex conducted a paranormal investigation at the Stage Post Pub and Hotel, West Lavington near Devizes.

Part of the present building dates back to 1650 but it is thought that in times past, the original site may have been a monastery as far back as the 1200s. For many years there have been reports of phantom sightings and strange occurrences. We were looking forward to our visit and hoping we may experience something of a supernatural nature.

1st Room

Matt, James and Rose started their investigation in this room. Matt 'called out.' There was no response from spirit. Rose 'called out' and later Matt tried again. When Matt asked if a spirit could show itself in light form, a rather strange light anomaly manifested. I disregard most of the orbs captured on camera/ Camcorder as I think most of them originate from dust particles, insects or drops of moisture when outside. But this light anomaly seemed different than most. It seemed to be 3D and moved strangely.

Generally, all was quiet. Matt, James and Rose said they would be happy to sleep in this room.

2nd Room

I started the investigation in this room with Christina and Melody. We made ourselves comfortable and started to 'call out.' It was generally quiet in this room apart from a few little taps. It was difficult to work out the origin of the tapping but we didn't think the tapping was necessarily paranormal.

Melody was sitting on a bed and she suddenly said that she thought the bed was vibrating slightly. A bit later on I felt the bed vibrating but it was such a small movement, neither of us was sure.

Prior to the investigation, Christina had fitted new batteries to her camera. But when she tried to take photographs, her batteries were flat. She tried some more new batteries and the camera still indicated that the batteries were flat. All other battery operated equipment functioned normally so we thought that she had probably purchased faulty batteries.

Christina and Melody heard whispering coming from the corner of the room.

Christina became suddenly aware that she was feeling angry. She definitely did not feel this anger was her own. She had not felt anger until we had started the investigation. She did not know what was making her feel angry.

3rd Room

James felt that the energy of this room was different.Matt agreed and started to 'call out.' Matt reiterated that this room certainly did feel different. He said "This room is creepier!" But James thought that the energy was still too flat. Matt said that he was breaking out in a cold sweat for some reason.

Matt started to 'call out' again. Rose said "There was a tap then." Matt said that he could hear a sound which resembled a heartbeat and it sounded like it was coming from the wardrobe. Matt and James wondered if it was music coming from the bar.

Rose said that she was cold which was strange as the rooms were all really warm. Matt 'asked out' again. Rose said that she could hear a wheezing kind of breathing. Matt said "That is me." Rose said "No, I can hear you, I'm ignoring that. I can also hear James breathing but it's different. I can hear a third person breathing and wheezing."

4th Room

Christina, Melody and I thought we thought we would try this room. After leaving the 2nd Room, Christina's anger evaporated. But it returned as soon as she came into this room. She didn't look angry and she was laughing about this strange phenomenon, it was just a feeling inside her.

We heard a few odd taps but nothing definite. We eventually decided top leave this room but then I heard a strange howl. There were a couple of small dogs in the building who were barking occasionally but this howl sound did not sound like a small dog. It sounded of human origin and was directly behind me and not in another part of the building where the dogs were. After this, nothing more of significance occurred.

5th Room

We decided to try some table tapping as Christina, Melody and Rose have never experienced this.

We all put our finger-tips on the table and started to 'call out.' After a long while Christina said "Can you feel that? The table is vibrating." She felt that we definitely had a spirit with us. The table started to shake a bit more. Rose felt as if the table was trying to lift up.

Christina 'called out' asking if the spirit was female.

Christina said that she was feeling very angry again for no reason. She felt that a spirit was trying to show her something through the emotion of anger. But she could not work out what it was.

The table was pushed slightly. Christina said that she was getting really annoyed now.

Melody started to feel sick and then all was quiet. Christina asked "Have you gone?" Matt said that the room was getting warmer so Christina was probably correct in thinking that the spiritual energy has dissipated.

6th Room

We went into this room and tried 'calling out.' We were sitting quietly and Christina suddenly jumped and said to Melody "Did you touch me then?" Melody said that she hadn't touched Christina.

Christina was still feeling angry. I asked any spirits present "Could you shake the shower hose or flap the curtains?" Christina (and the others) thought I meant for Christina to shake the shower hose or flap the curtains to get rid of her anger. I received some very strange looks initially and then we all collapsed with laughter.

As our laughter died down we heard a tap.

7th Room

We all assembled in this room. We made contact with a female spirit. She was not resident but comes back in visitation. She did not really want to divulge any more information.

At one point Rose said that she felt something touching her. Apart from that, all was quiet.

Cellar

Matt, James and Rose went to explore the cellar. The atmosphere down there felt paranormally flat and they did not experience anything.

Attic Room

Christina and Melody had to go home so I joined Jacky, Dave and Chris in the attic bedroom. This was where the chef would have lived but for some reason he was not living there.

Jacky 'called out' to spirit. She stated that there is a lot of spiritual activity in the building regularly and asked if there is a specific reason. "Did someone want to give the landlady/staff a message?" Or "Were they just trying to get someone's attention?" "Were they trying to get someone's attention that lived there?" All was quiet.

Chris said to Dave "You were right about the monastic connection."

Main Bar Area/ Dining Room

As we were choosing a table to sit around, we heard movement in the dining room area, behind us. Chris, Jacky, Dave and I went into this room (it was open-plan). We knew the sound of movement came from the back of the room but there was nothing there. Jacky asked if the spirit (which we were linked to at the table), if they were responsible for moving the cutlery. We had a positive response. We assembled around a large heavy table and attempted table-tapping. Very soon, the table was tapping and responding to questions.

The spiritual connection with us in this area of the building was so much stronger. The energy felt vibrant and exciting. As we conducted our séance at the table, the noises behind us in the dining room were loud and consistent. There was definitely nobody in there, someone would have had to get past us to go in there and there was no door on the other side. The noises were not those of a building settling down, they were the sounds of things being moved and shifted. It was very scary in the dining room area and when I entered this room with Jacky, I felt another presence strongly. I didn't feel that it was a negative presence but it was disconcerting hearing the heavy things being moved around and knowing that this spirit was so strong.

We eventually decided to end our investigation and head off home. The weather was fitting for a paranormal investigation as it was raining heavily and there was thunder and lightning.

Twilight Shadows Paranormal would like to thank Mary for allowing us to investigate the Stage Post Pub and Hotel.